
Class 



o 



Book , ~J'j Q A 



EERATUM. 

Page 16, Chapter II, the title should be " Nature and Properties," &c., 
instead of " Value and Properties," &c. 



JL IB !R, I E E ESSAY 



ON 



HUT, LIGHT, ELECTRICITY 1ND IUIETISI 



BY 



CHARLES 8KELTON, M. D. 



TKENTON, N. J.: 
Kaar, Day & Naar, " True American " Office, Printers. 

1875. 



By Tr; 



V^OT 






C- 



t£ 






CONTENTS. 



Page 

Chapter I. 
Ancient and Modern Theories, 7 

Chapter II. 

Nature and Properties of Heat, Light, Electricity 
and Magnetism, 16 

Chapter III. 

Source and Influence of the Sun's Heat, Light 

and Magnetism, 38 

Chapter IV. 
Duration of Our Coal Fields, ........ 62 

Chapter V. 
Influence of the Vital Forces, 68 



PREFACE. 



I submit/ this brief essay with much diffidence to the 
fair criticism of my friends, and of others who feel an 
interest in the subjects herein discussed. These studies 
have been pursued for many years in my leisure from 
more arduous duties, and for the pleasure that I have 
derived therefrom. - Some of the conceptions are new, 
and, all will admit, of the highest importance. 

The theories which have heretofore been advanced to 
explain the laws which govern heat, electricity and 
magnetism, have not been fully satisfactory to enquir- 
ing minds. The theory herein advanced is not presented 
as fully demonstrated. The full demonstration can only 
be made by comparing all the known facts with the 
theory. 

The present century has been, emphatically, an age 
of experiment, and the result is that we have a vast 
amount of experimental knowledge ; but that knowledge 
lies around us like the material for a magnificent temple, 
without an intelligent architectural design. We want 
to know how and where each stone and timber will fit 
in the great temple of God, the universe. 

The vast influence which heat, light, electricity and 
magnetism exert over all the matter composing the 



6 

universe, makes this subject all important in the 
advancement of knowledge. These conceptions, which 
I have advanced, as far as my knowledge extends, 
harmonize the facts with the theory. 

A full and exhaustive comparison of all our experi- 
mental knowledge with this theory would make a large 
volume : — the attempt here is only to compare the 
more important and leading facts with this theory ; in 
this, so far, I see only agreement and harmony, though 
a fuller investigation of the theory may possibly lead to 
its rejection. 



E3SS^l"Y" 



CHAPTER I. 

ANCIENT AND MODERN THEORIES. 

What is heat ? This question, to one who has not 
reflected much on the subject, will appear easy of solu- 
tion, and unimportant, and yet the ablest minds, from 
the dawn of science to the present day, have failed to 
reach a satisfactory solution. The importance of the 
correct solution equals the difficulties that surround the 
subject. The solution of this question will lead us into 
the inner chamber of the temple of science, All the 
forces of nature are intimately blended with the forces 
of heat. Light, heat and electricity are so intimately 
blended as to give rise to the supposition that they are 
different manifestations of the same force. 

Heat and motion are so intimately connected as to 
give rise to the theory of correlation of forces. This 
intimate connection has also given rise to what is called 
the dynamical, or mechanical theory of heat. This 
theory views heat, as Dr. Tyndall expresses it, as "a 
mere mode of motion." ' 



8 



Grove, in writing on this subject, says, " Though I 
" am obliged, in order to be intelligible, to talk of heat 
"as an entity, and of its conduction, radiation, <&c, yet 
"these expressions are, in fact, inconsistent with the 
" dynamic theory which regards heat as motion and 
" nothing else." 

Grove very properly says that he "is obliged to 
speak of heat as an entity in order to be understood," 
for how can a man speak intelligibly of a thing that 
does not exist? If heat is a nonentity we cannot rea- 
son about its properties or effects, or even about its 
convertibility into something else. 

The difficulties and importance of the solution of this 
question are well stated by Tyndall, who says, " The 
" subject is still an entangled one, and in entering upon 
11 it, we must be prepared to encounter difficulties. In 
" the whole range of natural science, however, there is 
" none more worthy of being overcome, none whose 
" subjugation secures a greater reward to the worker. 
11 For by mastering the laws and relations of heat, we 
" make clear to our minds the interdependence of natu- 
11 ral forces generally. Let us, then, commence our 
" labors with heart and hope ; let us familiarize our- 
11 selves with the latest facts and conceptions regarding 
11 this all pervading agent, and seek diligently the links 
11 of law which underlie the facts and give unity to 
" their most diverse appearances. If we succeed here 
"we shall satisfy, to an extent unknown before, that 



9 



" love of order and beauty, which I am persuaded, is 
"implanted in the mind of every person here present. 

" From the heights at which we aim, we shall have 
" nobler glimpses of the system of Nature than could 
" possibly be obtained, if I, while acting as your guide 
11 in the region which we are now about to enter, were 
"to confine myself to its lower levels and already 
" trodden roads." 

Tyndall's conceptions of heat, as embraced in the 
dynamical theory, are accepted by many of our ablest 
scientists ; yet this theory to my mind falls short of a 
satisfactory solution of the question. Theories have 
arisen and fallen at various times from the earliest 
periods of history. The mechanical is the last theory 
advanced, and is now generally received ; but this, to 
my mind, must in time, share the fate of all the theories 
that have preceded it. I may be accused of presump- 
tion in presenting still another theory of heat. This 
too, may pass away as a mere fiction of the imagination, 
as all others have. Speculations on this subject, how- 
ever, are not entirely useless, as the past will fully 
demonstrate. Kepler made a great many guesses before 
he solved the great laws of the solar system. Nearly 
all the theories that have been advanced in regard to 
heat have contained some valuable truth; as we shall 
find by turning back to many of the ancient concep- 
tions. 

We can well understand why fire, at a very early date, 



10 



should have been regarded as the chief of the elements, 
and the motive power of the universe. It had long 
been worshipped as a symbol of the Deity by the 
Chaldeans ; a worship which probably originated with 
the Scyths ; for Zoroaster, who introduced fire-worship 
among the Medo-Persic races, is supposed to have been 
a Scythian. Again, Agni, the god of light and fire, was 
placed first in the Hindu Trinity. The first scientific 
idea of heat was that it was one of the elementary 
forms of matter. This conception was sustained by all 
that was then known. Heat entered into all the forms 
of matter, and occupied space; wherever it entered 
into any form of matter the bulk of such matter was 
increased. They reasoned correctly from the then 
known facts, and on this theory they harmonized and 
explained all that was then known on the subject. 

When they worshipped the Sun as the symbol of 
Deity they were not as unreasonable as many of the 
present day would suppose. The vitalizing and cheer- 
ing influences of light and heat were felt on every hand. 
Thus it was, that in the early ages of the world the in- 
habitants of the earth were led to worship the Sun as 
the creator and the giver of life, beauty and happiness. 
Modern scientific men are much prone to under-value 
the conceptions and labors of the past ages. 

The theory which affirms that the world was com- 
posed of four elements : earth, air, fire and water, is the 
oldest physical conception of which we have any 



11 



knowledge. It certainly existed before the fifteenth 
century before Christ. It was adopted in India, Egypt 
and Greece at a very early date. Several philosophers 
divided fire into purer and grosser parts. In later times 
fire would come to signify every thing appertaining to 
ignition, thus light, whether accompanied by heat or 
not, flame, the heat inherent in all bodies, incandescent 
bodies, stars, fiery meteors, lightning, and all visible 
manifestations of electricities, would be included under 
the term. 

The elemental fire of Herakleitos is the mover of 
matter, the principle of movement, that which produces 
perpetual changes around us. Fire was the anima, the 
soul, the viyifying spirit. The mythological side of the 
belief is seen in the story of Prometheus, who is fabled 
to have stolen fire from Heaven and therewith vivified 
mankind. The tour-element theory was universally 
accepted during the middle ages, and was only disproved 
a century ago, when air was proved to be a mixture of 
two gases, water a mixture of two gases, fire the result 
of intense chemical action. 

The links that bind together ancient and modern 
physical thought are strong and enduring ; and since 
they have lasted during the rise and fall of many 
nations, and during the most profound changes in the 
mode and tone of thought, it is not unlikely that they 
will endure as long as the chain itself. We shall see, 
before we close, that these ancient conceptions were no 



12 



mere idle dreams. There is a vein of truth, tinctured 
with many errors, running through all these ancient con- 
ceptions. 

The idea that matter is composed of atoms, though 
many discard the conception, is so interwoven with all 
our modes of reasoning, that we cannot reason intelligibly 
without them. It is true we have never seen one of 
these ultimate atoms. They have neither been weighed 
nor measured, and probably never will be ; and yet this 
conception, which is as old as human thought, still holds 
possession of the human mind. Dr. Dalton in his pro- 
found chemical experiments, and his beautiful and 
harmonious theory of chemistry, made this conception 
indispensable to all our reasoning. 

The idea of an infinitely rarified and all penetrating 
matter, was entertained in the earliest ages of philosophy, 
notably in the Hindu systems; it appears to have been 
recognised as a fifth element nine hundred years before 
Christ. Aristotle maintained this conception in his 
philosophy and supposed it to be always in motion, and 
to be the moving agency of the other elements. In 
the present day we find it impossible to explain various 
phenomena, notably those connected with radiant heat, 
and the polarization of light, without assuming the exis- 
tence of some ethereal medium. The wave theory of 
light as generally entertained, rests entirely on thij as- 
sumption. Light, heat, electricity and magnetism are so 
intimately blended that we must consider them as 



13 



emanating from one elementary form of matter, vari- 
ously modified in its actions and influences. Our ablest 
scientists admit the existence of ethereal matter, but 
deny that heat is an elementary form of matter. As 
knowledge advances, we find that nature's fundamental 
laws become simplified. A single great law, as in 
gravitation, will control and explain a multitude of 
actions. If we can show that the conceptions of the 
ancients each contain a part of the truth, and can 
unite their varied conceptions in one we shall evidently 
reason in the right direction. The conception of heat 
as an elementary form of matter, now discarded, con- 
tained a part of the truth. The conception of ethereal 
matter, though enveloped in many errors and mysteries, 
contained a great truth. 

One form of imponderable matter will explain the 
phenomena of heat, light, and electricity. If we can 
show that- we have imponderable matter filling all 
space, we shall find this conception sufficient to har- 
monize and explain all of what are called the imponder- 
able forces. Light is the rapid wave motion of impon- 
derable matter. Heat is this matter in excess in pon- 
derable matter. Electricity and galvanism are this 
imponderable matter in flowing currents. 

This theory shows that ail the conceptions of the 
ancients contained part of the truth. They reasoned 
well as far as their knowledge extended. Their theory 
of atoms was purely a mental theory, as the mind could 



14 



not conceive of a whole thing without parts. Dr. Dal- 
ton's announcement of definite proportions in all chem- 
ical combinations, which is found to be almost univer- 
sally true, makes this theory indispensable to all sound 
chemical reasoning. 

The theory of the elementary form of heat, and the 
theory of a universal ethereal form of matter may be 
blended in one. This ethereal matter, when in excess 
in ponderable matter is manifest as heat. Instead of 
having two kinds of matter we here have but one, heat 
being only a manifestation of the action of imponder- 
able matter. This theory, herein, in part, harmonizes 
with the dynamical theory of heat. Motion causes 
heat, but motion is not in itself heat; nor is this im- 
ponderable matter heat. It becomes, or manifests itself 
as heat when, by being set in motion, it accumulates in 
excess. Thus, in order to have heat, we must have 
imponderable matter, and we must have motion to 
disturb the equilibrium of this matter. In this the 
dynamical theory is partly true. The purely dynam- 
ical theory avers that heat is noi material, but simply 
a mode of motion. In order to have motion, we must 
have matter to move, and force to move it. Motion 
implies matter and force, consequently, we cannot have 
heat without matter ; heat must, then, be material. 
The dynamical theory is right in requiring motion to 
produce heat, and wrong in denying the materiality of 
heat. We cannot aver that heat is simply a vibratory 



15 



motion of the particles of ponderable matter, for this 
assumption would only lead us one step farther in the 
dark. The question would then be presented, What 
caused this matter to move? Has ponderable matter 
the power of self-motion ? We must ever stand on the 
old assumption that we cannot have motion without 
force applied. 



CHAPTER II. 

VALUE AND PROPERTIES OF HEAT, LIGHT, ELECTRICITY 

AND MAGNETISM. 

We know that nearly all the forces acting on the 
earth come to us from the sun. The revolutions of the 
earth in its orbit, and the earth's diurnal revolutions, 
are governed by the sun's forces. Day and night, 
summer and winter, heat and cold, life and death, all 
come from the same source of power. All these forces 
must reach us through a medium. That medium is 
admitted to be interstellar matter. This matter fills 
all space, and is infused into all ponderable matter. 
Heat is produced by motion, but motion does not always 
produce heat. Motion may produce cold as well as 
heat. The production of heat depends on the kind of 
motion and on the kind of matter moved. Motion of 
expansion produces cold, and motion of contraction 
produces heat. In other words, when we compel matter 
to occupy smaller space heat is forced out, and when 
we expand matter heat is absorbed, and cold results. 
The more rapid these motions the more intense will be 
the heat or cold. When the pressure is applied very 
slowly the heat produced may not become sensible, as 



17 



radiation, conduction or convection may carry it off as 
fast as produced. 

Many persons suppose that the interior of the earth 
must be very hot, in consequence of the great pressure 
of gravitation, The recent dredging in the deep ocean 
has shown that the deep waters are colder than the 
surface of the ocean. All ponderable matter, when 
suddenly compelled to occupy smaller space, gives out 
imponderable matter, or heat ; and sudden expansion 
absorbs this matter, and produces cold. Combustion is 
a chemical process, by which the matter burned is 
compelled, by chemical attraction, to occupy smaller 
space. The imponderable matter thus rapidly forced 
out we call heat. 

The oxygen is the body from which we get the heat. 
The purer the oxygen the more rapid the combustion, 
and the more intense the heat. Hydrogen, the lightest 
gas known, contains the greatest amount of imponder- 
able matter, and, when condensed by combustion with 
oxygen, produces the greatest amount of heat known 
by chemical action. The more expanded ponderable 
matter is, the more imponderable matter it contains ; 
which, when in excess, becomes heat. 

Count Humford's experiments in boring cannon, in 
which heat was developed, by friction, led to reflec- 
tions unfavorable to the theory of caloric. Eumford 
remarks in regard to these experiments, " By meditat- 
" ing on the results of these experiments we are 



18 



1 naturally brought to the great question which has so 

1 often been the subject of speculation among philoso- 

1 phers namely : What is heat, is there any such 

1 thing as an igneous fluid f Is there any thing that, 

1 with propriety, can be called caloric ? We have seen 

1 that a very considerable quantity of heat may be 

1 excited by the friction of two metallic surfaces, and 

1 given off in a constant stream or flux in all directions, 

4 without interruption or intermission, and without any 

■ signs of diminution or exhaustion. In reasoning on 

' this subject we must not forget that Diost remarkable 

' circumstance, that the source of heat generated by 

' friction in these experiments appeared evidently to be 

'inexhaustible. It is hardly necessary to add, that 

1 any thing which any insulated body or system of 

1 bodies can continue to furnish without limitation 

1 cannot possibly be a material substance ; and it ap- 

1 pears to me to be extremely difficult, if not quite 

' impossible, to form any distinct idea of any thing 

1 capable of being excited and communicated in these 

1 experiments, exceptit bemotion." These experiments 

and remarks of Rum ford led to the abandonment of the 

theory of caloric. The unlimited supply of heat was the 

main point of difficulty in defending the old theory of 

caloric. As there was no probable conception advanced 

that would solve the difficulty, the conclusion was that 

heat was nothing but motion. This conception might 

explain the actions going on in the metals excited, but 



19 



Rumford's remark, that " This heat is given off in a 
11 constant stream or flux in all directions," leaves the 
subject as much in the dark as ever. What constitutes 
these streams that are given off in all directions ? 
Matter may, possibly, exist without motion ; but motion 
cannot exist without matter, for in order to have motion 
some thing must be moved. Matter and motion are 
ever inseparable. Force without matter to act on, 
would be a mere abstract conception ; or more properly 
speaking, we cannot conceive of force without matter 
to act on. Even matter in motion will not always pro- 
duce heat. The motion of matter that produces con- 
densation will always produce heat, and motion that 
produces expansion will produce cold. The motion of a 
body of matter in empty space, if such a thing could be, 
would not produce heat. Matter that moves on the 
earth will always produce heat, as it must move in the 
air, and in doing so, produces condensation of the air, and 
consequently produces heat. A cannon ball in passing 
through the air is heated by condensing the air and 
receiving th^ heat thus generated. Tyndall says, 
" That the ideas of the most well informed philosophers 
11 are as yet uncertain regarding the exact nature of the 
" motion of heat ; but the great point at present is to 
"regard it as motion of some kind, leaving its more 
11 precise character to be dealt with in future investiga- 
11 tion." To state that heat is motion makes the 
subject more incomprehensible than if we say that heat 



20 



is produced by motion. In the latter case motion is the 
cause, heat the effect. Every motion must have its 
cause, and must produce some effect. Cause and effect 
must ever lie at the foundation of every action. 

Pure motion without friction, or expansion, or con- 
traction, will not produce heat or cold. How then 
does motion produce heat ? Motion produces heat only 
in one way, that is by the condensation of matter, and 
cold only in one way, by the expansion of matter. 
With these two propositions, which are in all actions 
verified, we can trace the varied actions which produce 
heat, and arrive at clear and certain conclusions. In 
combustion the motions produce condensation, and con- 
sequently produce heat. But what is condensed in the 
combustion of carbon ? Carbon is not ; a solid is con- 
verted into a gas. The oxygen is the body condensed ; 
the heat is thus derived from the oxygen and not from 
the carbon. In the combustion of hydrogen with 
oxygen, the bodies combining are both condensed, and 
consequently the amount of heat is largely augmented. 
In the motion of a swiftly flying ball the air is con- 
densed, heat is produced, and the ball and air are both 
heated. The air is immediately cooled again by its 
motions of expansion to fill the space just occupied by 
the ball. 

Under this mode of reasoning we can trace the kind 
of motions which produce heat. When we say that 
motion is heat we confound cause and effect, and 



21 



bewilder the mind. When we reason from cause to 
effect, our logic and facts fit together, and make intel- 
ligible conceptions. 

Thus far we are consistent and intelligible ; but the 
problem, " What is heat?" is not thus far solved. 
Why, or how, does the condensation of matter produce 
heat ? The correct answer to this last question will lead 
us into the inner chamber of nature's laboratory. If 
we admit that we have imponderable matter filling the 
interstellar spaces and entering into all the spaces in 
ponderable matter, we find that we have a key that 
will unlock the great mystery that has ever hung over 
this subject. If we cause the atoms of ponderable 
matter to approach each other, and thus condense this 
matter, heat is always given out. That ponderable 
matter which is most expanded contains the largest 
amount of heat. Hydrogen gas is the most expanded 
form of ponderable matter known, and when condensed 
by combining with oxygen, in the formation of water, 
it gives out more heat than any other known body. If 
this gas is again restored, by the decomposition of 
water, the same amount of heat is again absorbed. 

All ponderable matter is subject to the same law ; 
additions of heat expand, subtractions of heat contract, 
the bulk of matter. Thus we see that heat, or ether, 
is the matter that fills the spaces and expands all pon- 
derable matter. Here we see the reason why and the 
way in which the condensation of matter produces heat. 
2 



22 



Heat, then, if this logic be correct, is imponderable 
matter in excess. This conception removes the objec- 
tions which were suggested to Rumford's mind when 
experimenting on frictional heat. The inexhaustible 
supply of heat by friction could not be accounted for. 
The conception of universal imponderable matter filling 
all space, and filling all spaces in all ponderable matter, 
makes the supply inexhaustible, and makes consistent 
the theory of the materiality of heat. The conception 
that this matter was a separate igneous fluid made all 
the difficulty. This matter may appear hot or cold 
as the quantity in ponderable matter is in excess of, 
or less than, the normal quantity belonging to the par- 
ticular form of matter. 

Heat expands all bodies into which it enters, exactly 
to the amount absorbed, as in the mercury of the ther- 
mometer. Is this thing absorbed matter, or is it a 
motion of the particles of the mercury ? When the 
thermometer is standing at one hundred degrees we 
have no evidence that the atoms of mercury are any 
more agitated than when it stands at forty degrees. 
We have no evidence to show that rapid motions are 
going on in the mercury, — no evidence to show that 
the atoms of the mercury are agitated, or that they are 
expanding themselves by flying against each other from 
side to side of the tube which incloses them. The 
bombarding spoken of by Tyndall and others, as going 
on in the tube, is a pure fiction. There is something 



23 



tbat has entered into the mercury, and expanded it ; 
this thing that causes expansion occupies space, and 
must be material. 

The advocates of the dynamical theory of heat admit 
the existence of an ethereal medium, but suppose it to 
be matter in a very attenuated form. They admit that 
it enters in between the atoms of all ponderable matter, 
thus becoming universally diffused through matter and 
space. As this matter has no gravity, some deny its 
materiality. That which occupies space, and excludes 
other matter from occupying the same space, must be 
material. 

Ethereal, or imponderable, matter fills all space, not 
with atoms far separated from each other, elastic and 
expansible, but with matter unelastic and full. Elastic 
compressible matter could net expand ponderable mat- 
ter with a force that cannot be resisted. The force of 
heat cannot be resisted any more than the motions of 
the sun. The force of heat rests entirely on its expan- 
sive power. Wherever it enters, the particles of pon- 
derable matter must be separated from each other, to 
give room to be occupied by the particles of imponder- 
able matter. Pressure will force heat out of ponderable 
matter, and thus cause contraction ; but when heat 
enters a body, expansion follows in positively certain 
ratios. These facts are not consistent with the proper- 
ties of elasticity. Elastic bodies may be compressed 
without losing any ponderable matter, but whenever 



24 



such matter is compressed it loses imponderable matter, 
or heat, and when expanded again must receive ethe- 
real matter, or heat; and these additions and subtrac- 
tions are in exact ratios. 

Every atom of matter in the universe is absolutely 
unchangeable in size. Imponderable matter, by enter- 
ing between the atoms of a mass of ponderable matter, 
will change its bulk, but such matter will ever remain 
the same in weight and quantity. Carbonic acid, when 
compressed into the solid form, loses not one particle of 
its matter, but loses largely of heat, or imponderable 
matter, and this heat when suddenly forced out becomes 
sensible, and may enter other matter again and produce 
expansion. 

The conception of elasticity, or compressibility, is not 
consistent with the received theory of light. Elastic or 
compressible ether could not convey light to indefinite 
distances. Wave motions impressed on our atmosphere 
can only be conveyed to very limited distances, in con- 
sequence of the elastic and compressible properties of 
our air. Attenuated air will not convey sound. At 
the height of 15,000 feet two men in a balloon could 
with difficulty hear each other's voices. Sound is con- 
veyed four times faster through water, and eight times 
faster through solid matter than through air. 

The impulses impressed on ethereal matter by the 
sun and stars, travel at the rate of 165,000 miles per 
second, and the distances that these impulses pass over 



25 



are enormous. The sun's distance, though 92,000,000 
of miles, appears small compared with the distances of 
other bodies which send to us their light. Neptune, 
the most distant of the known planets, is 2,862,000,000 
miles distant from. the sun. Many of the comets whose 
orbits are bound to the sun, traverse much greater dis- 
tances from the sun. Thus Halley's comet recedes to a 
distance of 3,200,000,000 miles from the sun ; the 
comet of 1811, 36,000,000,000; and that of 1680, 
75,000,000,000 miles from the sum. The period of the 
last named comet is 8,800 years. Still these figures 
can scarcely be compared to those which represent the 
distances of the stars. 

It was not till 1840 that the distances of the fixed 
stars were mathematically ascertained. This discovery 
is, therefore, of recent date, and we are only now 
beginning to form an approximate idea of the real dis- 
tances which separate us from the stars. There are 
stars whose light cannot reach us in less than 100, 
1,000 or 10,000 years ! 

Dr. Schelleu says in his recent work on spectrum 
analysis : " The light which proceeds from these 
" stars, is the winged messenger which can bring us in- 
" formation of their being and nature. Spectrum 
" analysis has made this light into a ladder on which 
" the human mind can rise billions and billions of 
" miles far into unmeasurable space, in order to in- 



26 



* vestigate the chemical constitution of the stars and 
' study their physical conditions. 

" With what acuteness, with what delicacy does 
' spectrum analysis accomplish this task ? When the 
1 balance, the microscope, and every other means of 
1 research at the command of the physicist and chemist 
1 utterly fail, one look on the spectroscope is sufficient, 
' in most cases, to reveal the presence of a substance. 
1 If a pound of common salt be divided into 500,000 
1 equal parts, the weight of one of these portions is 
1 called a milligramme. The chemist is able, by the 
1 use of the most delicate scales and the application of 
4 special skill, to determine the weight of such particle ; 
' but in doing so he comes close on the limits of his 
' power of detecting by chemical means, the presence 
1 of sodium, the chief element in common salt. But 
'if that small milligramme be subdivided into three 
4 million parts, we arrive at so minute a particle that all 
1 power of discerning it fails, and yet even this exces- 
' sively small quantity is sufficient to be recognized 
1 with certainty in a spectroscope." 

These impulses made bv the sun, and especially by the 
stars at these vast distances, could not be transmitted 
to us through an elastic medium ; or through very 
attenuated matter. Elasticity would very soon destroy 
the impact and stop the forward motion. Attenuated 
matter could not receive and convey the impressions of 
matter in Buch almost infinitely divided particles. 



27 



When light is reflected from the surface of an object it 
gives back the impression in the most minute particulars, 
as in the taking of a photograph picture. Widely 
separated particles of matter could not do this. Nor 
would elastic matter when reflected be capable of 
giving back exact impressions. 

Ethereal matter is subject to all the laws that govern 
ponderable matter, except gravitation. When light 
and heat are impelled against a resisting body, it is 
reflected in the same way, and at the same angle that 
a solid, liquid or gaseous body would be deflected. A 
flowing current of imponderable matter, which con- 
stitutes the galvanic current, is subject to the same laws 
that govern fluid ponderable matter. A galvanic 
current, when flowing through a large wire, will pro- 
duce neither light nor heat ; but if a small wire is 
intervened that will not carry the whole current, we 
then get this matter in excessive quantity, which will 
give us both light and heat. 

A body that is positively electrified will contain this 
matter in excess and will give off currents of this 
matter. When two bodies positively electrified are 
brought near each other, they will repel each other. 
This results from the two opposite currents meeting 
and repelling each back on the bodies that gave them 
off. 

Here we see a manifestation of the same mechanical 
laws that govern ponderable matter. We at the same 



28 



time see in this example, the cause of attraction and 
repulsion. Ethereal matter when in excess always 
flows off in currents, in order to restore equilibrium ; 
and in doing this affects ponderable matter, giving to 
it the forces of atti action and repulsion. 

The existence of imponderable matter is only known 
by the effects produced. We cannot confine it ; it will 
not submit to the ordinary test applied to ponderable 
matter. Professor Cook, of Harvard University, re- 
marks, in his "New Chemistry:" "Even in our own 
time, we still hear of imponderable agents." Do we 
make a mistake when we call heat, light and electricity 
agents ? Do we make a mistake when we say that 
these agents or forces are imponderable ? Can we sup- 
pose that ponderable matter has the power of self 
motion ? This would be contrary to all the known 
laws governing matter. If the sun's forces were with- 
drawn, and the earth left to its innate forces, all actions 
would soon cease, and the earth become a lifeless, 
silent, and frozen mass. 

This shows that the forces acting on the earth are 
not innate, but are derived from the sun, through the 
medium of imponderable matter. 

Matter attracts matter in all its tangible forms. 
Acids attract and combine with alkalis, but this attrac- 
tive force may be changed or destroyed by the applica- 
tion of a current of electricity, or by the application of 
heat. Some of the properties of imponderable matter 



29 



are perceived by the senses that take cognizance of 
ponderable matter. Light, heat and electricity, have 
their peculiar modes of manifesting themselves to our 
senses, and we have given them proper names ; but are 
these properties that we thus name, the result of 
separate and peculiar forces, or are they manifestations 
of one force ? Here are, apparently, mystery and con- 
fusion. The electric force will produce light and heat, 
and light and heat will produce the electric current, 
and attractive force. Can separate forces thus blend 
and change their powers and manifestations ? Attrac- 
tive force, it will be recollected, is dependent on, and 
controlled by all the other imponderable forces. That 
explanation which will elucidate one of these forces, 
will apply to all. 

The light of the sun comes to us through the medium 
of an ethereal fluid that pervades the space between us 
and the sun. The facts which sustain the vibratory 
theory of light are numerous and consistent, and are, 
generally, conclusive. If then we have a universally 
pervading medium, which transmits the impressions of 
light, the same matter may give -us the impressions of 
heat and electricity. 

Nature is simple in her operations, using but few laws 
or forces to accomplish a multitude of ends. Newton 
demonstrated the unity and simplicity of the force that 
governs the solar and stellar worlds. The same force 
that causes the apple to fall to the ground, sustains ten 



30 



thousand times ten thousand worlds in their everlasting 
orbits. Newton only demonstrated the unity of a force. 
Its cause and connection with other forces were not 
perceived. That which creates and destroys attractive 
force, must be the cause of attraction. The same 
cause that operates on chemical attraction, operates on 
attraction of gravitation. Heat, light and electricity 
create and destroy attractive forces. In what way do 
these forces control chemical attraction ? We must not 
forget the statement previously made that the agent 
which causes these forces is ethereal matter in motion. 
This matter, by the force of its impulse, enters between 
the atoms of ponderable matter and separates them from 
each other. The atoms of ponderable and imponderable 
matter cannot occupy the same space at the same 
time ; consequently one atom must yield to the other. 
In order to explain chemical attraction, let us sup- 
pose the atoms of ponderable matter to be formed with 
angular sides, as we see in all crystals. The sides of 
these planes coming together, and fitting together, so 
as to. exclude all imponderable matter, may cause adhe- 
sion of atoms, in the same way that perfectly fitting 
plates which exclude the air adhere to each other. 
Perfectly fitting plates adhere with the force of fifteen 
pounds to the square inch, this being the pressure of the 
atmosphere. In the case of chemical attraction, a 
pound of water, resolved into its constituent gases, 
would be adequate to raise a weight of 5,314,200 pounds 



31 



one foot high. This enormous force would represent 
the pressure of ether on all ponderable matter, and 
would be the true measure of the force of chemical 
attraction. This adhesion may be destroyed by forcing 
this ethereal matter into the joints where these atoms 
are joined, so that the pressure may be on all sides of 
the atoms. 

What evidence have we that the atoms of ponderable 
matter have sides and angles? All solid crystals have 
angles and planes, consequently must be built up of 
atoms possessing planes. Perfectly round atoms would 
have pressure on all sides alike, and would be free to 
move in any direction. If we suppose the atoms of 
imponderable matter to be perfectly round, we can 
account for the absence of the force of gravity in' this 
matter, as the equal pressure on all sides of the atoms 
would leave them free to move in all directions. The 
angular atoms of ponderable matter would be driven to 
a common centre. 

The cause of chemical attraction, as well as the cause 
of attraction of gravitation, has ever eluded the wisest 
heads. The conception of currents of force is enter- 
tained by many able scientists. The cause of these 
currents, and their mode of action, are yet unexplained, 
and the subject still remains as much in the dark as 
before the advancement of this conception. The mind 
ardently seeks for enlightenaient on this profoundly 
important subject. 



32 



M. Emile Saigey, in writing on this subject, says of 
the ether: "Thus, this fluid produces attraction in 
" matter without itself being subject to it; it confers 
11 gravity upon bodies, and itself is imponderable." The 
way in which this matter confers these properties, is 
not made clear by this author. If this universal matter 
has pressing force, like the air which surrounds the 
earth, we may form some conception of its mode of 
action. 

This theory as to the mode by which the attractive 
forces are exerted is not advanced as fully free from' 
objection, but as a conception that may lead to fuller 
investigation of this all-important subject. We should 
not rest satisfied with our present attainments, but 
should pursue our investigations with untiring zeal. 
This conception, here advanced, is worthy of being fully 
tested. 

Lavoisier, in a memoir which he read to the Academy 
of Paris, in 1775, announced that calcination and com- 
bustion are the results of the union of a highly respira- 
ble gas (oxygen) with combustible bodies ; and, soon 
after, he proposed the theory that the heat produced 
during combustion was disengaged from the oxygen. 
11 These two propositions," says Cuvier, ' belong to 
" Lavoisier in his own right, and foim the basis and 
" fundamental character of the new chemical theory. ' 
This announcement, though universally admitted tor 
nearly a century, Beems not yet fully comprehended. 



33 



Combustion is universally admitted to be a chemical 
combination of carbon and oxygen, but the heat is sup- 
posed to be derived from the carbon. Nearly all 
writers speak of carbon as producing the heat. Which 
of these propositions is true ? Does the heat come from 
the oxygen, or does it come from. the carbon? Any 
body, to give out heat, must be condensed, and all 
bodies expanded absorb heat. The oxygen, in combin- 
ing with carbon, is the only body condensed. 

Dr. J. E. Mayer, on the sources of heat, says : " It 
11 has been established by numerous experiments that 
" the combustion of one kilogramme of dry charcoal in 
11 oxygen, so as to form carbonic acid, yields 7,200 units 
" of heat, which fact may be briefly expressed by say- 
" ing that charcoal furnishes 7,200 degrees of heat." 
"Superior coal yields 6,000°; perfectly dry wood, 
" 3,300° ; sulphur, 2,700° ; and hydrogen, 34,600° of 
" heat." In the combustion of hydrogen with oxygen, 
the heat comes from both gases, the largest amount 
from the hydrogen. The reason that hydrogen yields 
the largest amount of heat when condensed, is, that it 
being the lightest known body, contains the largest 
amount of imponderable matter, and, when condensed, 
gives out the largest amount of ether, which, when in 
excess, becomes heat. 

The combustion of oxygen and hydrogen produces 
more heat than the combustion of any other two bodies, 
and the reason is, that in these combinations the con- 



34 



densation is the greatest known in chemical combina- 
tions, both gases being condensed. The carbon only 
acts as a condenser of the oxygen ; the heat comes from 
the oxygen alone in the combustion of charcoal, as 
Lavoisier truly stated. 

The production of heat by condensation holds good 
in all cases. Matter condensed by mechanical force 
always gives out heat. This holds true in all forms of 
matter, gaseous, liquid or solid ; and these bodies, when 
again expanded, absorb heat. This conception makes 
clear many modes of producing heat which have been 
much mystified. For example, in hammering a piece 
of iron on an anvil, the iron is compressed, and conse- 
quently gives out heat ; a bullet is impelled from a gun, 
and strikes a resisting body, and is condensed, and con- 
sequently heated — in passing through the air the air is 
condensed and gives out heat, and contributes to heat 
the ball. The smith's hammer compresses the air as 
well as the iron, and obtains heat from that source. 

The production of heat by friction, which destroyed 
the theory of caloric, and which still bewilders many 
minds, may be explained by the same theory. The 
friction caused by rubbing two rough surfaces together 
not only compresses the solid matter, but likewise the 
air. If we place oil between the two rubbing plates, so 
as to exclude the air, the heating is greatly checked ; 
for this purpose, the axles of the swift traveling cars 
are always kept well oiled. 



35 



The heat and light eliminated by the magneto- 
electric machine, at first view would appear the most 
mysterious, and at the same time to give proof of the 
truth of the dynamical theory. This force appears to 
be produced by motion alone. No chemical action is 
here evoked, as in the galvanic pile. If this is not 
pure motion, and nothing else, what is it? We must 
bring in the conception long entertained, and now 
generally conceded, of the existence of a universal 
ether; and further, that the universe is a plenum. 
Even with this conception we are still in the dark. The 
same motion, in a machine made of wood or stone, 
would produce neither light nor heat. The motion must 
be that of a magnet. Here comes up another important 
question, Why must we have a magnet for this pur- 
pose ? A magnet is a mass of iron or steel through 
which a current of electricity or ether circulates. A 
piece of soft iron, not magnetic, if a current of electricity 
is forced through it, will answer the same purpose. The 
flowing current is the necessary condition for the initial 
action. The force of a thousand horses, to move the 
machine, would fail to produce the results without the 
initial current. Here we see that mere motion will not 
produce the results, and the enquiring mind cannot rest 
satisfied with this explanation. How, then, are light 
and heat produced by the magneto-electric machine ? 
Light is now universally admitted to be the result of 
wave motion of ether, and heat is supposed to result 



36 



from some motion in this same ether. The explanation 
is found in this theory, that light, heat and electricity 
are all manifestations of special motions and conditions 
of ethereal matter. Light is the vibratory motion of 
this matter ; heat is this matter in excess, and elec- 
tricity this matter in motion. When the machine is 
set in motion the current of electricity is established, 
and increased in force and rapidity with the increasing 
action of the machine. When this current is obstructed, 
either by a wire too small to carry it or by charcoal 
points, the most intense light and heat are produced. 
We accept the dynamical theory, as far as it goes ; but 
it stops short of an entirely satisfactory explanation. 
We accept the theory that heat is a mode of motion, 
but we cannot rest satisfied without knowing what kind 
of a mode of motion. And more, we want to know 
what is moved in the production of heat. We cannot 
accept the theory that heat is nothing but motion, for 
the reason that we cannot have motion unless some- 
thing is moved. The addition which we have proposed 
to the dynamical theory fills up a blank, and makes the 
theory full and intelligible. 

The intimate relation which light, heat, electricity 
and magnetism bear to each other, are clearly brought 
to light. These are all varied effects of one medium. 
Interstellar matter is the medium through which all the 
forces known as electricity, light and heat are mani- 
fested ; thus we have one form of imponderable matter, 



37 



which receives and imparts all the forces in such varied 
ways. 

Here is the link that binds together all the forces of 
nature, and makes the universe an inseparable unit. 
Through this medium the sun enlightens, warms and 
animates the earth. Through this medium the stars, 
so far distant as to take thousand of years to transmit 
their light to us, manifest their powers and glory. 
Through this medium, we may say, the fingers of God 
touch the most distant parts of the universe, and con- 
nect all creation with the Creator. How beautifully 
this theory explains and harmonizes the sublime descrip- 
tion of God's creation of light, as given in Genesis : 
"And God said, Let there be light : and there was light." 
The voice of God set in motion the waves of ether, and 
these waves, with the rapidity of light, radiated over 
the whole universe, and there was light thus created. 
The mind here comprehends the medium through which, 
and by which, the word created light. Many theolo- 
gians fear that the advancement of scientific knowledge 
will lead to skepticism and destroy religious faith. 
These fears are entirely groundless, for the more pro- 
found our knowledge becomes of God's works the higher 
rises our veneration of that Great, Wise and Good Being 
who created this wonderful universe in infinite extent 
and harmony. 
3 



CHAPTER III. 

SOURCE AND INFLUENCE OF THE SUN's HEAT, LIGHT, 

AND MAGNETISM. 

As we receive all our light and heat either directly 
or indirectly from the sun, the source of the sun's heat 
becomes an important problem. This subject has at- 
tracted the investigation of the ablest minds, for centu- 
ries, without securing a satisfactory solution. We may 
form a limited conception of the immense amount of 
heat eliminated by the sun, from a statement made by 
Lockyer, in his work on astronomy, " that the whole 
" heat of the sun, collected on a mass of ice as large as 
"the earth, would be sufficient to melt it in two min- 
"utes, to boil the water thus produced in two minutes 
11 more, and to turn it all into steam in a quarter of an 
11 hour from the time it was first applied." If the body 
of the sun contained the amount of heat indicated by 
his radiation, all the substances known to exist on the 
earth would be vaporized in a very short time, and the 
sun itself be converted into a nebulous mass of matter. 
This vaporization could not be prevented by the greater 
gravitating force of the sun that binds the particles of 
matter to his surface. 



39 



Tyndall says : "That the heat given out by the sun, 
'-' per hour, is equal to that which would be generated 
" by the combustion of a layer of solid coal, ten feet 
11 thick, entirely surrounding the sun ; hence, the heat 
" emitted in a year is equal to that which would be pro- 
" duced by the combustion of a layer of coal seventeen 
" miles in thickness." 

" These are the results of direct measurement ; and 
"should greater accuracy be conferred on them by 
" future determinations, it will not deprive them of their 
" astounding character. And this expenditure has been 
11 going on for ages, without our being able, in historic 
u times, to detect the loss. When the tolling of a bell 
"is heard at a distance, the sound of each stroke soon 
" sinks, the sonorous vibrations are quickly wasted, and 
" renew T ed strokes are necessary to maintain the sound. 
" But how is its tone sustained ? How is the perennial 
" loss of the sun made good ? We are apt to overlook 
" the wonderful in the common. Possibly to many of 
" us — and even to some of the most enlightened among 
" us — the sun appears as a fire, differing from our ter- 
" restrial fire only in the magnitude and intensity of the 
" combustion. But what is the burning matter which 
" can thus maintain itself? All that we know of cos- 
" mical phenomena declares our brotherhood with the 
" sun, — affirms that the same constituents enter into the 
" composition of his mass as those already known to 
" chemistry. But no earthly substance with which we 



40 



are acquainted — no substance which the fall of meteors 
has landed on the earth — would be at all competent 
to maintain the sun's combustion. The chemical 
energy of such substances would be too weak, and 
their dissipation too speedy. Were the sun a solid 
block of coal, and were it allowed a sufficient supply 
of oxygen to enable it to burn at the rate necessary 
to produce the observed emission, it would be utterly 
consumed in five thousand years. On the other hand, 
to imagine it a body originally endowed with a store 
of heat — a hot globe now cooling — necessitates the 
ascription to it of qualities wholly different from those 
possessed by terrestrial matter. If we knew the 
specific heat of the sun, we could calculate its rate of 
cooling. Assuming this to be the same as water — the 
terrestrial substance which possesses the highest spe- 
cific heat — at its present rate of emission the entire 
mass of the sun would cool down 15,000° Fahrenheit 
in five thousand years. In short, if the sun is formed 
of matter like our own, some means must exist of 
restoring to him his wasted power. The facts are so 
extraordinary that the soberest hypothesis regarding 
them must appear wild." 
There is another theory, called the meteoric theory. 
This theory supposes the sun's heat to be kept up by 
meteoric bodies falling on his surface, thus, by dynamic 
influence, generating light and heat. Tyndall, in advo- 
cating this theory, says : " Were our moon to fall into 



41 



11 the sun, it would develop an amount of heat sufficient 
11 to cover one or two years' loss ; and were our earth 
" to fall into the sun, a century's loss would be made 
"good." If the fall of the earth into the sun would 
supply its heat for only a hundred years, how long 
would it take to increase the size of that luminary to 
such an extent as to change the revolutionary periods 
of all the planets, and thus derange and eventually 
destroy the whole solar system ? Tyndall, speaking of 
the fall of meteors on the earth, says : "At certain 
" seasons of the year they shower down upon us in great 
" numbers. In Boston two hundred and forty thousand 
" of them were observed in nine hours." I saw the 
same shower of fire. The meteors fell as fast as snow- 
flakes in a heavy storm, and could not be counted. 
Nearly or quite all of these meteors were consumed 
before coming in contact with the surface of the earth. 
No increase of the temperature on the earth's surface 
was perceived from this extraordinary shower. If we 
admit the high temperature of the sun claimed by our 
ablest writers, what would be the effect upon these fall- 
ing bodies ? Would they not all become vaporized 
before reaching the sun's surface? And would not the 
conversion of solid bodies into vapor carry off or con- 
sume a vast amount of heat? We know that water, 
on being converted into vapor, is expanded eighteen 
hundred times, and immediately flies off from the sur- 
face of the earth. If the surface of the sun is as hot as 



42 



represented, no foreign body could ever come in contact 
with it. 

Herschel says: " The great mystery, however, is to 
"conceive how so enormous a conflagration (if such it 
" be) can be kept up. Every discovery in chemical 
" science here leaves us completely at a loss, or, rather, 
" seems to remove farther the prospect of probable ex- 
" planation. If conjecture might be hazarded, we should 
"look rather to the known possibility of an indefinite 
*' generation of heat by friction, or to its excitement by 
" the electric discharge, than to any actual combustion 
" of ponderable fuel, whether solid or gaseous, for the 
11 origin of solar radiation." 

The conception here expressed, that we should look 
to the electric current as the source of the sun's light and 
heat, will be found to have received much support from 
the discovery of magneto-electric currents. The light 
and heat produced by the magneto-electric machine 
possess all the properties of the sun's rays. The light 
and heat thus generated appear to be inexhaustible, and 
exceed the power of the sun's rays as received on the 
earth. This current is produced by the revolution of an 
electro-magnet in the presence of a stationary magnet. 
May not the sun be so constituted as to be a magnet ? 
In that case, his revolutions on his axis would produce 
intensely powerful currents. We know that the sun 
does produce powerful electric currents on the earth, and 
thus makes the earth an electro-magnet. 



43 



Balfour Stewart, in his late work on heat, makes this 
statement : " It has been discovered by General Sir E. 
' Sabine that the various disturbances of terrestrial 
' magnetism are due to the sun, but probably not to his 
1 radiant heat and light. Now, these magnetic disturb- 
' ances are invariably accompanied by the aurora 
1 borealis, and also by currents of electricity in the sur- 
' face of the earth, or earth-currents, as they are called. 
' It would appear, from investigation by the author of 
' this work, that the earth-currents, and probably the 
'aurora, are to be regarded as secondary currents, due 
1 to small but rapid changes in the earth's magnetism, 
' and that the body of the earth may be likened to the 
'core of a RuhmkorfT's machine, the lower strata of 
' the atmosphere forming an insulator, while the upper 
' and rarer, and therefore electrically conducting, strata 
' may be likened to the secondary coil. In this analogy 
' the sun may perhaps be likened to the primary cur- 
' rent which performs the part of producing changes in 
' the magnetic state of the core." 

The magnetic and electric influences of the sun on 
the earth are being more and more observed, and are 
attracting the profound attention of our ablest minds. 
These facts go to show that the sun possesses, in a high 
degree, magnetic and electric powers. These known 
and constantly observed electric powers of the san, to 
my mind, will more fully explain the nature of the sun's 
heat than any theory that has yet been advanced. 



44 



On the subject of the sun's magnetic influence I quote 
from Proctor : " The reader will at once see what these 
observations tend to. The sun-spots vary in frequency 
within a period of ten and a-half years, and the mag- 
netic diurnal vibrations vary within a period of the 
same duration. It might seem fanciful to associate 
the two periodic series of changes together, and, doubt- 
less, when the idea first occurred to Sabine it was not 
with any great expectation of finding it confirmed 
that he examined the evidence bearing on the point. 
Judging from known facts, as we may see reasons for 
such an expectation in the correspondence of the 
needle's diurnal vibration with the sun's apparent 
motion, and also in the law which associates the annual 
variations of the magnet's power with the sun's dis- 
tance. But undoubtedly when the idea occurred to 
Sabine it was an exceedingly bold one, and the ridi- 
cule with which the first announcement of the sup- 
posed law was received, even in scientific circles, 
suffices to show how unexpected that relation was 
which is now so thoroughly established. For a careful 
comparison between the two periods has demonstrated 
that they agree most perfectly, not merely in length, 
but in maximum for maximum and minimum for mini- 
mum. When the sun's spots are most numerous, then 
the daily vibration of the magnet is most extensive, 
while, when the sun's face is clear of spots, the needle 
vibrates over its smallest diurnal arc. 



45 



11 Then the intensity of the magnetic action has been 
11 to depend upon solar influences. The vibrations by 
" which the needle indicates the progress of those strange 
11 disturbances of the terrestrial magnetism which are 
11 known as magnetic storms, have been found not merely 
11 to be most frequent when the sun's face is most spotted, 
11 but to occur simultaneously with the appearance of 
" signs of disturbance in the solar photosphere. For 
"instance, during the autumn of 1859, the eminent 
" solar observer, Carrington, noticed the apparition of a 
11 bright spot on the sun's surface. The light of this 
11 spot was so intense that he imagined the screen which 
"shaded the plate employed to receive the solar image 
11 had been broken. By a fortunate coincidence, another 
11 observer, Mr. Hodgson, happened to be watching the 
11 sun at the same instant, and witnessed the same re- 
11 markable appearance. Now it was found that the 
11 self-registering magnetic instruments of the new obser- 
" vatory had been sharply disturbed at the instant when 
11 the bright spot was seen. And afterwards it was 
11 learned that the phenomena which indicate the pro- 
11 gress of a magnetic storm had been observed in many 
" places. Telegraphic communication was interrupted, 
11 and at a station in Norway the telegraphic apparatus 
" was set on fire ; auroras appeared both in the northern 
11 and southern hemispheres during the night which 
" followed, and the whole frame of the earth seemed to 
" thrill responsively to the disturbance which had 



46 



" affected the great central luminary of the solar sys- 
tem." 

We see, in the above statements, fully illustrated the 
powerful magnetic influence of the sun, and a strong 
confirmation of the conception that the sun is a mag- 
netic body, and, as such, has the power to generate 
intense heat by his own motions. One remarkable 
effect was shown, in the case just stated, that the mag- 
netic current produced intense heat, sufficient to set fire 
to the telegraphic apparatus. This impulse which 
came from the sun to the earth possessed all the proper- 
ties of magnetism, electricity and heat. As the sun 
possesses magnetic and electric forces within himself, 
and as these forces, when obstructed, produce the most 
intense heat known, he must possess the power to pro- 
duce his own supply of heat, without limit or exhaus- 
tion. These forces are manifest on the earth in conse- 
quence of the actions on the sun's surface. 

If no matter existed between the earth and the sun 
his impulses could not be felt on the earth. These im- 
pulses travel with the speed of light, and reach us in a 
very brief space of time. This shows that the atoms of 
this matter must be very close to each other, or in actual 
contact, and they must be solid and unyielding in form, 
or else these impulses could not be transmitted so rap- 
idly. All late and able observers agree in stating that 
the sun's atmosphere is in an intense state of action, 
and all know that the influence of these actions is 



47 



intensely felt on the earth's surface, and even through 
the body of the earth. The simple revolution of the 
sun on his axis, unless possessing electro-magnetic pow- 
ers, would not produce the,se results, but the sun acting 
as a magnet these results would follow as they do in our 
magneto-electric machines. On the earth we have to 
furnish the mechanical power to move the machine ; 
the sun has his own permanent motions, and conse- 
quently no material is consumed. How this motion 
was first given to the sun is, and ever will be, only 
known to God, We know that the sun has his motions, 
and we have strong reasons to believe that these mo- 
tions will be indestructible. This is all that we require 
to give consistency to our theory. The magnets, if 
connected with good conductors, do not become heated 
by their motions, though sending off the most intense 
light and heat known on the earth. May not the sun, 
in the same way, remain cool whilst sending off these 
intense streams of light and heat. 

The elder Herschel believed the body of the sun to 
be cool, and a fitting place for the maintenance of life. 
The indications given by the sun spots are that the body 
of the sun is darker than his surrounding photosphere. 
This appearance would indicate that the body of the 
sun may be cooler than his photosphere. 

When we examine closely the condition of the plan- 
etary bodies that revolve around the sun, we find they 



48 



have each some mode by which their temperature is 
regulated to fit them for the maintenance of life. 

The greatly varying distances of the planets from the 
sun would seem to indicate that the temperature of each 
greatly differs. The earth, for example, at the distance 
of 91,430,000 miles, has a temperature just suited for 
the maintenance of animal life. Mercury, at the dis- 
tance of only 35,393,000 miles, might be supposed to 
be intensely heated by the sun's rays, and thus unfitted 
for the maintenance of life in any form. As this planet 
is so nigh to the sun, astronomers have been unable to 
make observations that either prove or disprove this 
conjecture. Venus, at the distance of 66,131,000 miles, 
would still be too hot for the maintenance of life. 
Analogy, however, leads us to believe that this may be 
a habitable globe. Mars, at the distance of 139,312,000 
miles from the sun, should be, judging from his distance 
from the sun, a frozen mass, too cold for life to exist on 
his surface. There fortunately astronomers have been 
able to determine his condition. 

The climate of Mars must be about the same as that 
of the earth, notwithstanding the light and heat he 
receives is less than one-half of that received by the 
earth. Observations have shown that he is surrounded 
with vapors of water — that he has clouds, with rain and 
snow. The telescope plainly shows that his poles are 
covered with snow and ice, and that the boundaries of 
these snows are constantly changing as the sun ap- 



49 



proaches to or recedes from them, in the same way as 
on our earth. Some mode has been provided by the 
Creator by which this planet has been made a fitting 
habitation for man and other animals. If the earth re- 
ceived only the same amount of heat and light that 
Mars does, it would be a dead and frozen mass. The 
bearing which these, and other, more remarkable facts, 
may have in explaining the nature of heat, will be 
more fully seen hereafter. 

Jupiter is distant from the sun 475,693,000 miles. 
The light and heat which he receives from the sun are 
reduced to about one twenty-fifth of our supply on the 
earth. This supply of heat is so small that Jupiter, 
according to calculation, would be nothing but a frozen 
iceberg. 

Saturn's distance from the sun is 872,135,000 miles. 
This light and heat are reduced to one ninety-first part of 
that received by the earth. And yet the telescopic ap- 
pearances of these planets indicate that their tempera- 
ture cannot vary much from that of the earth. Belts 
of clouds are always seen by the telescope to encircle 
these two orbs, and these clouds are constantly chang- 
ing form. Here water remains unfrozen, and much of 
it in a state of vapor ; consequently the climate must 
be nearly the same as ours. 

Uranus is distant from the sun 1,752,851,000 miles ; 
and Neptune 2,746,271,000 miles distant from the sun. 
The amount of light and heat which Uranus receives is 



50 



one three hundred and ninetieth, and that of Neptune 
one nine hundredth, of that of the earth. These planets 
are so very far distant that the telescope gives us no 
indication of clouds or vapor. 

The theory of heat which we are here advancing, has 
an important bearing on the question. How are the 
temperatures of these planets kept to resemble each 
other so closely ? 

In the first place, we can imagine the universe as full 
of matter; all the planetary bodies moving in a univer- 
sal ocean of imponderable matter, this matter possessing 
no force of gravity, free to move in every direction 
alike ; and moved in various directions by the impulse 
of all moving ponderable matter. We may suppose 
that heat is this imponderable matter in excess, that is 
caused by the vibratory motion of this ether ; that 
electricity is this matter in motion, and that magnetism 
results from the flowing current of electricity. 

We can comprehend how Mars, though receiving less 
than half the light and heat which the earth receives 
may be modified b}^ the vapors that surround him, so 
as to make his temperature resemble closely that of the 
earth. 

The vast distance of Jupiter from the sun forbids the 
supposition that the light and heat which he possesses 
is all received from the sun. He lies more than five 
times farther from the sun than our earth, and the light 
and heat which he receives from that orb are reduced to 



51 



about one twenty-fifth of our supply. This amount of 
heat is entirely too small to produce the actions that 
are known to be going on on his surface. The enormous 
masses of vapors that are floating in his atmosphere 
indicate a temperature quite equal to that of our earth. 

Proctor in writing on this subject says : "It seems to 
" me, that these considerations point with tolerable 
" clearness to the conclusion that, within the orb which 
" presents so glorious an aspect upon o-ur skies, processes 
11 of disturbance must be at work wholly different from 
" any taking place on our earth." 

" That enormous atmospheric envelope is loaded with 
" vaporous masses by some influence exerted from, be- 
" neath its level." " Those disturbances which take 
" place so frequently and so rapidly are the evidences of 
11 the action of forces enormously exceeding those which 
" the sun can by any possibility exert upon so distant a 
" globe." " When we see masses so enormous, swayed 
" by influences of such energy, that intermediate belts, 
11 thousands of miles in width, are closed up in a single 
11 hour ; when we recognize the tremendous character 
" of the motions which from beyond four hundred mil- 
11 lions of miles, are distinctly cognizable by our tele- 
" scopes, we see that we have no ordinary phenomena 
" to deal with, and that the theory we adopt for the 
" explanation cannot be otherwise than striking and 
" surprising." 

The late Professor G. Bond, calculated that Jupiter 



52 



sends forth more light than he receives from the sun. 
Jupiter must have some power within himself by which 
a large portion of his light and heat is generated. The 
light sent to us from Saturn also bears a much greater 
proportion to the amount of solar light actually received 
by the planet than is observed in the case of Mars or 
the moon, and so nearly approaches the proportion 
noticed in Jupiter as to lead to the same inference — 
namely, that a portion of Saturn's light is emitted from 
the body of the planet. If we admit that Jupiter and 
Saturn generate a portion of their light and heat, they 
in this case resemble the sun. Their densities are 
nearly the same as the sun's. If the sun is so constituted 
as to resemble a magnet, so may be the superior planets. 
The rapid revolutions of the superior planets on their 
axis, which is performed in less than half the time of 
that of the earth, would give them greatly increased 
electric powers. The temperatures on the planets can 
not differ very widely, though varying so extremely in 
distances ; as we recognize the vapors of water in all 
except the two. most remote, Urani s and Neptune. How 
can these nearly equal temperatures be maintained 
under these widely differing conditions? We cari 
readily imagine that the conditions of the earth and 
Mars may be so regulated by the vapors surrounding 
them as to make their temperatures nearly the same, 
but the superior planets are so far removed from the 



53 



Sun as to make it nearly impossible for them to receive 
their light and heat all from that distant luminary. 

Proctor, and many other eminent astronomers, believe 
that the superior planets send out more light and heat 
than they receive from the sun; and that they are hot 
bodies cooling down. We have already alluded to this 
theory in regard to the sun, and have found it liable to 
very grave objections. 

The theory that these bodies, like the sun, are so 
constituted as to possess magnetic powers, will give a 
conception of the mode by which all these forces may 
be regulated. To say that all these forces are regulated 
by electric currents will not satisfy the enquiring 
mind, for the question comes up unbidden, what is 
electricity ? 

If we say that electricity is a flowing current of im- 
ponderable matter, that fills all space, we have a concep- 
tion on which the mind can rest; and which, I believe, 
will harmonize and explain all the known forces of 
nature. If the existence of this matter is admitted, 
what causes the motions that are taking place therein ? 
That all the masses of ponderable matter in thp universe 
are in regular and constant motion we all know. The 
origin of this first impulse can only be known to God. 
We take the known motions of the solar and stellar 
universe, and trace from them the cause of all motions in 
universal matter. Heat, light, electricity and magnetism, 
all result from the motions of the solar and stellar 
4 



54 



worlds through this medium, universal imponderable 
matter. 

As we know that nearly all the forces operating on 
the earth are derived from the sun, the question of the 
indestructibility of force must be determined by the 
properties of the sun's force. Are the sun's forces 
permanent and unchangeable ? 

The nebular theory of the formation of the universe, 
adopts the conception that all the stellar and solar 
worlds are, and have been for countless ages, cooling 
down ; and that the sun and planets are still under- 
going this process. If this conception be true, the sun's 
as well as all other forces must be destructible. 

The geological condition of the earth bears evidence, 
that all its parts have been, in different periods of time, 
subjected to intense heat. This fact is cited in proof of 
the nebular theory. We must not forget that the con- 
dition of the earth also shows, that all its parts, have 
been, in different periods of time, subject to much more 
intense cold than that which now prevails. Either the 
earth must have been heated and cooled in parts, or 
there must be some compensating forces that restored 
that which had been lost. 

That the forces of the universe are compensating, we 
have evidence from some of our ablest astronomers and 
mathematicians. Sir John Herschelsavs : "The move- 
" ments of the perihelia, and variations of eccentricity of 
11 the planetary orbits, are interlaced and complicated 



55 



11 together in the same manner and nearly by the same 
" laws as the variations of their nodes and inclinations. 
11 Each acts upon every other, and every such mutual 
11 action generates its own peculiar period of compensa- 
" tion, and every such period is thence propagated 
" throughout the system. Thus arise cycles upon 
" cycles, of whose compound duration some notion may 
"be formed, when we consider what is the length of one 
11 such period in the case of the two principal planets — 
11 Jupiter and Saturn. The greatest eccentricity of 
" Jupiter corresponding to the least of Saturn, and 
14 vice versa. The period in which these changes are 
" gone through would be 70,414 years. After this 
'■' example, it will be easily conceived that many millions 
11 of years will require to elapse before a complete fulfil- 
" ment of the joint cycle which shall restore the whole 
" system to its original state as far as the eccentricities 
" of its orbits are concerned." 

" Now, it may naturally be inquired whether, in the 
11 vast cycle above spoken of, in which, at some period 
11 or other, conspiring changes may accumulate on the 
" orbit of one planet from several quarters, it may not 
•' happen that the eccentricity of any one planet — as 
11 the earth — may become exorbitantly great, so as to 
" subvert those relations which render it habitable to 
11 man, or to give rise to great changes, at least, in 
11 the physical comfort of his state. To this the 
" researches of geometers have enabled us to answer in 



56 



' the negative. A relation has been demonstrated by 
' Lagrange between the masses, axes of the orbits, and 
' eccentricities of each planet, similar to what we have 
' already stated with respect to their inclinations, viz : 
' that if the mass of each planet be multiplied by the 
1 square root of the axis of its orbit, and the product by 
1 the square of its eccentricity, the sum of all such pro- 
' ducts throughout the svstem is invariable ; and as in 
1 point of fact, this sum is extremely small, so.it will 
' always remain. Now, since the axes of the orbits are 
' liable to no secular changes, this is equivalent to saying 
' that no orbit shall increase its eccentricity, unless at 
1 the expense of the common fund, the whole amount 
' of which is, and must forever remain extremely 
1 minute." 

We may reasonably conclude that the sun has within 
itself compensating forces that generate its light, heat 
and magnetic force ; and that this force will be perpetual. 
Cycles of variations are constantly generated, but these 
as above stated have their compensations which keep 
their powers' unwasted. 

After the great discovery of the indestructibility of 
matter, philosophers conceived that force must also be 
indestructible. This conception cannot be sustained 
when we apply it to the forces acting on the earth, for 
we know that the earth's forces are constantly wasled, 
as in the radiation of heat, and in many other ways. 
The earth's forces are nearlv all derived from the sun, 

■a 



57 



and are renewed by the sun, as fast as wasted. The 
sun's forces being indestructible, we still have, fully 
established, the two grand conceptions — the indestructi- 
bility of matter and the indestructibility of force. Then 
follows, as a necessary consequence, the everlasting 
duration of the universe. 

Balfour Stewart in his late work on " The Con- 
11 servation of Energy," uses the following language : 
'Although, therefore, in a strictly mechanical sense, 
11 there is a conservation of energy, yet, as regards use- 
11 fulness or fitness for living beings, the energy of the 
11 universe is in process of deterioration. Universally 
" diffused heat forms what we may call the great waste- 
11 heap of the universe, and this is growing larger year 
11 by year. At present it does not sensibly obtrude 
11 itself, but who know T s that the time may not arrive 
11 when we shall be practically conscious of its growing 
"bigness?"- This conclusion is based on the supposi- 
tion that there is such a thing as a hot fluid, and that 
it is passing from the earth and sun to enter, and 
remain in, universal space; in other words, that the sun 
and earth are losing their heat, and cooling down. We 
have no evidence to show that the sun or earth is any 
colder now than it was thousands of years ago ; on the 
contrary the facts show that their heat has ever been a 
fixed quantity. 

Many able writers represent the earth as much hotter 
during the carboniferous than the present period ; but 



58 



recent geological discoveries make this hypothesis un- 
tenable. Impressions of rain drops have been detected 
in carboniferous sandstone by Dr. Dawson, Sir Charles 
Lyell, and more recently by Mr. Brown, in Australia ; 
and these rain-marks are, on the average, about as large 
as those which are produced by the rain of our own 
period. As Lyell well remarks, " The great humidity 
11 of the climate of the coal period had been previously 
<; inferred from the number of ferns, and the continuity 
11 of its forests for hundreds of miles ; but it is satis- 
" factory to have at length obtained such positive proofs 
11 of showers of rain, the drops of which resemble in 
11 their average size those which now fall from the 
" clouds. From such data, we may presume that the 
11 atmosphere of the carboniferous period corresponded 
" in density with that now investing the globe, and that 
s< different currents of air varied then as now in tem- 
" perature, so as to give rise by their mixture, to the 
" condensation of aqueous vapour." These marks of 
rain-drops on the solid rocks, small and simple as they 
may appear, give evidence to my mind that the heat of 
the earth during the carboniferous period must have 
been nearly the same as at the present time. I believe 
that nearly all geologists agree thai millions of years 
have rolled around since the carboniferous strata were 
formed. When we state that the earth's heat has not 
varied during our historic period, we are met by the 
statement that six thousand years is too short a period 



59 



to test this question. Here we have a period of millions 
of years testifying to the same great truth : that the 
earth's heat has been a fixed quantity for millions of 
years. 

The conception which I have advanced regards heat 
as the universal ether, and the condition which consti- 
tutes heat as this ethereal matter in excess. 

This ether at rest is not heat. When heat is radiated 
into space, it is not lost nor wasted, but remains a part 
of the great ethereal ocean. This ocean of matter is 
being constantly disturbed by the motions of all pon- 
derable matter, as in the revolutions of all the heavenly 
bodies. These disturbances produce currents in this 
great ocean. When these currents are obstructed, as by 
coming in contact with the earth, excess of ether, or 
heat, is the result. The earth in turn radiates its 
heat into space ; but as the sun constantly pours these 
streams on. the earth, the earth's heat is kept a con- 
stant quantity. 

These streams if not obstructed are not hot, as we 
find on the tops of high mountains, or in the upper 
regions of the air. On the tops of high mountains 
where the air is thin, and does not obstruct the sun's 
rays the air remains very cold ; but when these rays 
light on a person in these situations, the heat is very 
intense. The rays of the sun, unless absorbed, are not 
hot. If they should pass through a perfectly transparent 
body, or be perfectly reflected from a polished surface, 



60 



no heating effect would take place in these bodies. All 
these facts show that heat is ether in excess. 

If this ether could attain to a perfect state of 
equilibrium, such forces as heat, light and electricity 
could not exist. Here then, again comes in the ques- 
tion : can, or will this state of equilibrium ever take 
place ? We certainly never can have this state of 
equilibrium as long as there are bodies of ponderable 
matter moving in this great ocean of ethereal matter. 

As the waters of the ocean are raised from their bed 
and sent in streams of vapor through the air, and 
return again in streams to the ocean, so the ether is 
sent in streams in various ways, and returns, again to 
the great ocean whence it came. No one supposes that 
one drop of the waters of the ocean is lost. Then why 
should we suppose that these streams of ether are lost, 
or become waste-heaps in the universe? The glacial 
evidences as seen on the rocks, all over the earth, seem 
to indicate that the earth was once colder than it now 
is. Cycles of changes appear to have occurred on the 
earth, but compensating forces have restored the tem- 
perature to what we may call a normal condition. 

Writers cite the moon as an example of a body that 
has lost all of its original heat. The moon, as is well 
known, has its sides at intervals, intensely hot and in- 
tensely cold, as its sides are alternately turned to or 
from the sun. The moon's heat, as well as that of the 
earth, is a fixed quantity. 



61 



The conception that heat is an igneous fluid, leads 
us to the conclusion that the energies of the universe 
are wasting. The conception that heat is imponderable 
matter in excess, caused by the motions of ponderable 
bodies moving in the ocean of universal ether, allows 
the universe to be indestructible. 

The conception that imponderable matter would 
retard the motions of ponderable matter moving through 
it, would make the universe subject to decay. 

Would matter devoid of gravity resist the motions bf 
ponderable matter ? That matter which has no gravitat- 
ing force would be free to move in any direction, and 
consequently would not resist the impulses of matter 
endowed with gravitating force. If the heavenly bodies 
move in a resisting medium their motions must, 
certainly, be extinguished at some time. If they move 
in a medium without resistance, their motions must be 
perpetual : so we see that the question of the conserva- 
tion of the forces of the universe, rests on this single 
point. I believe that matter without the force of 
gravity, will not resist the motions of ponderable 
matter ; and on this' conviction base my faith in the 
stability of the universe. 



CHAPTER IV. 

DURATION OF OUR COAL FIELDS. 

The very large amount of coal that is now being 
used for the various purposes of life is beginning to 
excite the attention of many, and the anxiety of some 
persons. The British Parliament in 1870, appointed a 
commission to enquire how long their coal fields would 
last at the present rate of consumption. That coramis- 
mission reported that the last year they raised from the 
mines of Great Britain one hundred and ten million 
tons. The vastness of this quantity may be shown by 
stating that the diameter of the earth is 7,926 miles, or 
13,880,760 yards ; the coal raised in 1870 would make 
a solid bar more than eight yards wide and one yard 
thick, which would pass from east to west through the 
earth at the equator. 

It was reported to the House of Commons by a 
member of the Coal Commission, that the decision of 
that body, after long and laborious inquiry, would be 
that there existed in their coal fields, a supply for 
about one thousand years at our present rate of con- 
sumption. This rate, we must remember, is rapidly 
increasing. This inci easing rate of consumption will 
bring down the period of duration to less than five 



63 



hundred years. The British people are beginning to 
complain of the increasing price in consequence of the 
increasing difficulty of deeper mining. 

This question of the supply of heat and light for the 
inhabitants of the earth, is one of the deepest import- 
ance. What will be the effect on the inhabitants of 
the earth when the coal fields are used up? Would 
the human race descend again into barbarism? Would 
the bronze age, and the stone age return, and men again 
retire to the caves in the earth for warmth ? Without 
coal or wood, we could no longer extract the iron from 
the ore, or melt that already extracted to give it new 
shapes to meet our varied wants. We could no longer 
drive our railroad cars over the earth, or our steamships 
over the ocean. The steam mills in their varied forms 
that now do the work of millions of men and horses, 
would become as silent as death, and the beautiful and 
useful products in their myriad forms, that now give so 
much happiness to the race, would no longer be found. 

Shall we look into the future and anticipate these 
gloomy prospects as likely to fall on our descendants, 
or shall we rather confide in the wisdom and goodness 
of the Creator who framed this wonderful and beautiful 
world ? That being who created this world, and the 
whole universe, with so much wisdom and skill, and 
stored it with such rich, wonderful and varied blessings 
to add to the happiness of its inhabitants, surely does 
not intend to leave it to desolation and ruin. Already 



64 



the light of science is beginning to give us light and hope. 
The advancing footsteps of scientific knowledge are 
beginning to reveal to our vision, prospects in the 
future far more glorious than the past. The discoveries 
that have been made on this subject that we have thus 
far been attempting to discuss, light and heat, show us 
that we have sources of light and heat that far excel all 
that has been produced by the use of coal. 

The galvanic battery can be made far to excel the 
best wind furnace in the production of heat, and will 
fuse platinum like wax. Quartz, sapphire, magnesia 
and lime are all fused by this heat. Carbon is the only 
substance which cannot be melted by the pile, though 
with six hundred Bunsen cells it has been softened to 
such a degree that adjoining pieces will adhere ; 
which seems to indicate the commencement of fusion. 
The metals are not only melted but volatilized, and 
dissipated in vapor. 

The light produced by the galvanic current is equally 
remarkable with that of the heat ; it can be made to 
rival that of the sun. 

The magneto-electric current gives more promise 
than the galvanic battery. Machines have been con- 
structed which gn r e both light and heat of the most 
intense power. From experiments performed in the 
month of June, with Wild's magneto-electric machine, 
comparisons of sun light with the electric light armed 
with the reflector, by means of the shadows thrown by 



65 



both from the same object, the electric light seemed to 
possess three or four times the power of sun light. 
That the relative intensity was somewhat in this pro- 
portion, was evident from the powerful scorching action 
of the electric light on the face, and the ease with 
which paper could be set on fire with a burning glass 
when introduced into its rays. Light enough could be 
produced by this machine and lamp, if placed on the 
top of a high tower, to illuminate London by night, 
more brightly than the sunlight does by day. 

One great advantage of this machine is its capability 
of enlargement to any required power. If instead of 
using the current from the ten-inch armature of the 
second electro-magnet for the production of light, it 
were to be used in producing a still larger electro- 
magnet, a vastly greater development of power would 
be the result. The only apparent limit to this multi- 
plication of power, is the excessive heat which would 
be developed in the rotating armatures; this might, 
perhaps, be pushed so far as to burn up all the working 
parts, dissipate the electric lamp and conducting wires, 
destroy the attendants, and become in fact perfectly 
unmanageable. 

Vast improvements will be made in the construction 
of machinery for utilizing these forces, and making them 
subservient to man's wants. The time will probably 
come, when man will obtain all the lightand heat which 



66 



he may require for the practical purposes of life, from 
chemical and electrical sources. 

The time may come when our descendants will look 
back on our condition as we look back on the condition of 
our ancestors who inhabited the earth during the stone 
age, and wonder how we ever managed to live with all 
the discomforts of stoves, coal ashes, and coal gas filling 
our dwellings, and all the labor of building fires and 
cleaning dust. Only think how convenient it would be 
to have our houses heated and lighted by an electric 
current; no smoke, no dust, no offensive gas ; and then 
our cooking all could be properly done without cooking 
the cook. Think of our cities with one great central 
lamp and all our streets as light at midnight as at noon 
day ; in this case no lights would be required in our 
houses to light our rooms. The exhaustion of our coal 
fields may, after all our fretting, be a great blessing to 
the human race. 

That being who has formed and adjusted the universe 
with so much wisdom and goodness, surely does n^t 
intend that his works shall come to nought. I cannot 
believe that the material universe is wearing out ; or 
that the forces of nature will ever become exhausted. 
Some eminent writers speak of the debris and waste- 
heap of the universe. The flying atom, as well as the 
rolling world, is fulfilling its ordained mission. We 
see the earth's forces constantly changing, and con- 



67 



stantly becoming exhausted, but we see them constantly 
renewed by the forces ol the sun. 

The earth set off by itself, would soon become a dead 
and frozen mass of matter ; but the earth is not thus 
set off; it is a constituent atom of the universe, and as 
such is subject to the universal and everlasting laws. 
Compared with the whole, it is but an atom, yet its 
annihilation, if that were possible, would probably 
derange the universal harmony. 

" From Nature's chain whatever link you strike, 
" Tenth or ten thousandth, breaks the chain alike. 
" And if each system in gradation roll, 
" Alike essential to th' amazing whole, 
" The least confusion but in one, not all 
" That system only, but the whole must fall. 
" Let earth, unbalanced from her orbit fly, 
" Planets and suns run lawless through the sky ; 
" Let ruling angels from their spheres be hurled, 
" Being on being wrecked, and world on world ; 
" Heaven's whole foundations to their centre nod, 
" And Nature trembles to the throne of God." 



CHAPTER V. 

INFLUENCE OF THE VITAL FORCES. 

The production of heat by the vital forces is more 
difficult to comprehend than by the ordinary physical 
laws. Much vital heat is, no doubt, produced by a 
purely chemical process ; as in breathing — the oxygen 
of the air combining with the carbon of the blood, under 
the same laws as in ordinary combustion. This purely 
chemical process will account for much of the vital heat, 
but by no means will it account for the large and con- 
stant supply of heat found in vital organisms. The 
amount of carbon and oxygen consumed would be 
entirely too small to keep a living animal steadily at a 
temperature of ninety-eight degrees Fahrenheit The 
human body has a system of nerves which exert a 
powerful influence in the production and distribution of 
the heat of the body. Muscular contraction, also, 
exerts a great influence in the production of heat. 

In what way does muscular contraction produce heat ? 
The muscles are, certainly, not disintegrated by their 
actions, and consequently these actions cannot be purely 
chemical. These actions cannot be accounted for by the 
supposition that the muscles occupy less space when 
contracted ; for what is lost in length is gained in thick- 



69 



ness. How, then, can we account for the production of 
heat by the contraction of the muscles ? 

The human body has a system of nerves which con- 
trol the distribution of heat to all parts of the body, and 
keep up an equable temperature over the whole body. 
These nerves are found to be perfect conductors of elec- 
tricity. A current of electricity will pass rapidly 
through these nerves, and exert many of the influences 
of the nervous fluid. 

The nervous system is a living magneto-electric 
machine, the nerves acting as a magnet, the muscles 
giving the motions required to produce the effects. The 
conducting nerves carry the excess of heat from the 
interior of the body to the surface, where it can be car- 
ried off by radiation or by the evaporation of the fluids. 
The power which the living system possesses to regu- 
late its own temperature, cannot be accounted for on 
strictly chemical or dynamical principles. We can 
readily account for the production of heat, but the regu- 
lation of that temperature, under such widely differing 
conditions, is profoundly mysterious. The temperature 
of the human body remains nearly the same when ex- 
posed to heat of one hundred degrees Fahrenheit, or to 
cold below zero. This wonderful power cannot be 
accounted for by any of the laws governing inorganic 
matter. 

Even in the vegetable world the vital force plays an 
important part in preserving the organism. During the 
5 



70 



last winter the delicate peach trees in my yard were 
subject, for many days, to a temperature below zero ; 
and yet they are now budding forth in full vitality. 

This instinctive intelligence of the vital forces cannot 
be accounted for under any of the laws governing inor- 
ganic matter. The human body maintains a tempera- 
ture of nearly ninety-eight degrees Fahrenheit in all 
latitudes of the earth. It possesses the power to lessen 
excesses, and to supply deficiencies. How can this 
remarkable power be accounted for? No hypothesis 
has yet been advanced that will in any way explain 
these mysterious actions. 

The conception which has been advanced in this 
thesis will give us a probable explanation. When we 
admit the existence of imponderable matter filling all 
space, and the spaces in all matter, we have taken the 
first step towards an explanation. When we admit that 
this matter in excess constitutes heat, we have taken 
the second step; and when we admit that motion will 
disturb the equilibrium of this matter, we have arrived 
at a probable solution of this profound problem. 

Any motion of matter in the great ocean of matter 
must disturb the equilibrium, and consequently produce 
currents. These currents, when obstructed, will cause 
excess of this matter at points where obstructed, con- 
sequently heat will be produced. In saying that heat 
will be produced, I do not mean to say that we have 
produced caloric, or an igneous fluid, only we have 



71 



produced that condition of imponderable matter which 
we have previously stated constitutes heat. The tree 
that preserves its life at a temperature below zero does 
not do it by chemical actions, as no such actions are 
going on at that temperature. Under these circum- 
stances there is neither growth nor decay going on, con- 
sequently heat cannot be produced in this way. 

We know that the sun produces electric currents in 
the earth, and that these currents prevail in all seasons 
of the year. We know that electric currents obstructed 
produce heat. Matter in some conditions conducts 
electric currents, and* in other conditions obstructs 
electric currents. A large copper wire will freely con- 
duct a large current of electricity, but it this wire 
should connect with a non-conducting substance intense 
heat would be produced. The tree in the ground may, 
and probably does, by its peculiar vital organisms 
utilise the earth currents of electricity to preserve its 
vitality under various temperatures. 

The preservation of animal temperatures may be 
accounted for in the same way. The nerves and 
muscles are good conductors, but the intervention of 
non-conductors at any particular point would produce 
heat. The nutriment of the body that flows from the 
stomach to the lungs, and from the lungs to all parts of 
the body and is deposited just where it is required, 
illustrates the flow of heat, which is distributed by the 



72 



same influence, and with the same intelligence and 
wisdom. 

Bone is deposited where bone is required, and muscle 
where muscle is required, and nerve where nerve is 
required, and so on in the whole process of nutrition. 
Heat is produced and distributed under the same 
general intelligent laws. 

The forces governing organic matter are directly the 
opposite of those governing inorganic matter. Life is a 
constant struggle between these two opposing forces; 
as long as the vital forces prevail life is preserved. 
When the inorganic forces prevail death ensues, and the 
body that was animated with life is decomposed. The 
great vital machine no longer produces and regulates its 
own heat, but is subject to all the changes of tempera- 
ture that surround it. 

We cannot come to the conclusion, with all these 
facts before us, that the same laws govern living 
matter that govern inorganic matter. The actions pro- 
ducing heat in the living body cannot properly be called 
combustion. Nor can we properly say that digestion 
and assimilation are purely chemical processes. The 
vital forces control one set of actions, and the chemical 
forces the other. 

When we contemplate the actions of the vital forces we 
find ourselves surrounded by impenetrable mystery. 
Here science fails to guide us into the open fields of 
knowledge. We perceive the mysterious actions that 



73 



are going on around and within us, but we cannot perceive 
the secret spiings that animate these actions. We can 
understand the mechanical construction, and design of 
the living machine — its purposes and objects, but when 
we seek for the cause of the motive power we find our- 
selves completely in the dark. 

The vital forces appear to act with intelligence ; they 
tend to accomplish designs and purposes. The human 
body is built up with more intelligent design than any 
machine that man's intelligence has ever constructed. 
The adaptation of means to ends is most perfect. The 
vital forces not only build up these wonderful structures 
but they constantly tend to repair and preserve them 
from decay. Each organism has its specific period of 
duration ; up to that time the vital forces all tend to 
preserve and repair the organisms. The vital forces 
add intelligence to matter and motion. This intelli- 
gence is not material, but becomes a controlling force 
over matter. 

What is this force which takes control of matter and 
makes it conform to intelligent designs and purposes ? 
This question leads us above and beyond scientific 
knowledge. The mind of man feels and knows that 
it has powers of thought and reason, and that this 
thought is not material. Thought is not bounded by 
time or space — it traverses the whole universe in a 
moment. Light, the most swiftly traveling agent known, 
will take thousands of years to pass from some of the 



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most distant stars to us ; and yet thought will in a 
moment pass this almost infinite space. 

Many theologians fear that the study of the natural 
sciences will lead to materialism. A superficial study 
of these subjects may lead to these results, as we see 
matter and motion controlling so much of the universe ; 
but on a full investigation of material things we are 
compelled to supplement these with something that is 
not material. 

Intelligent design, order and harmony are every- 
where seen throughout the universe. The creation was 
ordained with intelligence and wisdom, and is controled 
and sustained by intellectual power. The universe is 
more than matter, and force. Intelligence rises over 
and above all material things, and controls and sus- 
tains all with intelligent designs and purposes. This 
intelligent design is not only seen in the control of un- 
numbered worlds, but we can trace it down to the 
smallest animalcule, and smallest atom of matter. The 
first and highest power in the universe stands intelligence. 

Man is not the mere creature of accident, but is 
created by an all-wise good and powerful creator, with 
intelligent design and purpose. Here we may rest our 
faith, here we may base our trust, and work on with 
full confidence in the wisdom and goodness of the great 
creator of the universe. 

Intelligence is not only displayed in the mechanical 
and useful, but in the beautiful ; nature everywhere 



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strives to supply the absolute wants of man and to 
minister to his pleasures. Who that looks over the 
earth, clothed with life and beauty, can fail to see the 
wonderful working of this mysterious power. Vegetable 
life decorated with more than royal splendor, and with 
more variegated and beautiful colors than the rainbow — 
insect and animal life vie with the vegetable in minister- 
ing to our happiness through our sense of beauty. 
Nature everywhere more than realizes the beautiful 
conceptions of the poet : 

" Warms in the sun, refreshes in the breeze, 
" Glows in the stars, and blossoms in the trees ; 
" Lives through all life, extends through all extent, 
" Spreads undivided, operates unspent." 



